John Thomas Goodroe family

John Thomas Goodroe of Marion County, Georgia, left his home in Georgia and moved to Cass County, Texas, sometime before 1894. John Thomas’ grandfather, “Old” Thomas Goodroe was born in North Carolina, 1781. He received land in Walton County, Georgia, in the Third or Fourth Georgia Land Lotteries, and moved from Jones County, Georgia to Walton County and finally Upson County where he died 10 Jun 1855.

Old Thomas’ ninth child, Richard Benjamin Goodroe served in the Civil War as a member of the “Georgia Drillers,” a volunteer infantry unit from Marion and Schley Counties, while his wife Elizabeth A. Tidd remained at home with their five children, the eldest, Charles B. Goodroe, age ten; Catherine Eugenia Goodroe, eight; John Thomas Goodroe, six; J. Simeon Goodroe, four; and Mary Elizabeth, two. Richard Benjamin served his unit until the end of the war and reared a total of eight children, the last three being Robert Lee Goodroe, Martha J. Goodroe, and Walter Augustus Goodroe.

John Thomas was third of the eight children of Richard Benjamin Goodroe and Elizabeth A. Tidd, and the only one of their children to leave the home in Georgia. He was born 5 Jan 1856 in Marion County, Georgia, near Buena Vista. He and his wife, Martha Missouri Benson, born 12 Apr 1857, also Marion County, Georgia, came to Texas with their four children, and lived near Laws Chapel for a brief period of time. He bought land one mile east of Anti on present day FM 2791, in 1894. Two more children were born at this location. Martha Missouri had been very reluctant to leave Georgia as “there were two baby graves there.”

The John Thomas Goodroe children in Cass County were: Robert Elton Goodroe (30 Jan 1880-26 Nov 1922) who married Rosa Ella Law, January 1899; Charles Thomas Goodroe (12Jul 1988-5Nov 1947) who married Lola Faye Allen, 18 Mar 1921; Mattie Estella Goodroe (1891-1924) who married Homer Torrance “Tince” Freeman; Edgar Lafayette Goodroe (12 Aug 1893-10 Feb 1949) who married Vada Lucille Allen, 18 Sep 1920; Walter Ben Goodroe who was married to Roxie Land (1) and Reba Gray (2), and Lila Mae Goodroe (29 Dec 1898-15 Jan 1964) who married Horace Tracy Allen, 12 May 1918.

The three Aliens who married the three Goodroes were not the first of their families to marry sisters and brothers of another family. In John Thomas’ generation, three Goodroe brothers married three Benson sisters. No wonder Martha Missouri didn’t want to leave Georgia, for her entire family remained in the Marion County, Georgia area.

Edgar Lafayette Goodroe and Vada Allen Goodroe lived most of their married life in Texarkana, rearing four children. Kenneth Edgar Goodroe, Ferrol Allen Goodroe, Donald Truett Goodroe and Patricia Lucille Goodroe . The children enjoyed their many visits, especially in the summertime, with their maternal grandparents, Rhett, and Josie Allen of the Anti-Community. Sue (1888-1968) taught at the Anti School, and moved to Dallas when she married John Herschel Glover. They had one child, John Allen Glover, born March 1, 1916. She worked a number of years for Sanger Bros, and well into her seventies was taking classes at SMU.

Bonnie (1890-1980) married Lillian Belle Hamilton, living most of his life in the Fort Worth-Dallas area. They reared three sons: Joseph Barney Allen, Jr, Robert Andrew Allen, and Tracy Hamilton Allen.

Aimer (1893-1948) married Maud Belle Stone and lived in Douglassville, TX where he farmed and was employed with the Forest Service. They were parents of two sons: Aubrey Clifford Allen and Arthur Bonnie Allen.

Tracy (1895-1977) married Lila Mae Goodroe and lived in the Anti Community all their lives. Tracy was a Road Commissioner for Cass County, during the days when the roads were serviced with a horse drawn “maintainer.” Lila Sue Allen Spinks is their daughter, and they also reared their niece, Faye Kathryn Freeman Harper, daughter of Mattie Estella Goodroe and Homer Torrance Freeman. Mattie Estella died when Faye was two years o:f age.

Vada (1898-1984), my husband’s mother, married Edgar Lafayette Goodroe, 18 Sep 1920, and lived in Texarkana, Texas with their four children: Kenneth Edgar Goodroe, Ferrol Allen Goodroe, Donald Truett Goodroe and Patricia Lucille Goodroe.

Lola (1902-1969) married Charles Thomas Goodroe, living in Henderson, TX and Shreveport, LA , where he was a superintendent of oil leases for the Haynes Oil Company. Their children were: Charles Thomas Goodroe, Jr., Martha Josephine Goodroe Blair, and John Robert Goodroe.

Aubrey (1904-1974) married Bonnette Stratton, the daughter of a Methodist minister from Oklahoma. They lived in Monroe, Louisiana where Aubrey was with General Tire Company, until they retired in Antioch, Cass County where they lived the rest of their lives. They had no children.

For a number of years in the 1920’s and 1930’s Josie Allen had a store on the corner where FM 2791 intersects FM 96 in the Anti Community. The southeast corner was the sits of the Anti-School, and the northeast corner, the Antioch Baptist Church. Her grandchildren remember with pleasure the times spent in her care, while she tended the store

His children have said that Rhett Allen was “straight as a ramrod” and in his seventies was agile enough to stand on his head, and had the stamina to walk to Texarkana to visit family. He farmed all his life, and was the first farmer in the area to have a two-horse plow. He was remembered as a man of strong political convictions, and was often asked to speak at gatherings, like the Fourth of July celebration at Knight’s Bluff. Kenneth Edgar Goodroe (10 Oct 1922-10 Oct 1956) married June Dawn Howell on 12 Apr 1943. Their four children are: Diane Howell Goodroe, Gale Suzanne Goodroe, Donna June Goodroe and Kenneth Edgar Goodroe, Jr. Kenneth Sr., a career U. S. Air Force officer died in an aircraft crash at sea, between England and the Azores.

Ferrol Allen Goodroe (7 Feb 1925 - ) married Katherine Anne Julian ( 9 Sep 1930 -} in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 2 Jun 1951. Their children are Michael Edgar Goodroe, Kenneth David Goodroe, Amy Katherine Goodroe and Julie Anne Goodroe. They have lived in the Anti Community since 1972.

Donald Truett Goodroe (9 Jul 1929 - ) married Nancy Eleanor Sawyer (14 May 1930 -) in Boston, Massachusetts on 19 Apr 1958. They live in St. Petersburg, Florida and have two sons, George Raymond Goodroe and Curtis Glenn Goodroe.

Patricia Lucille Goodroe (28 Sep 1934 - 27 Mar 1981) was married to Jimmie Don Calhoun (12 Apr 1934 -) in Texarkana, Texas, 26 July 1955 and had three children, Linda Kay Calhoun, Janet Anne Calhoun, and Jimmie Scott Calhoun.

. . Anne Julian Goodroe